Congratulations, Professor Mills

By God’s own mighty power the long wait is over, and Professor John Atta Mills who won the 2008 presidential election would be sworn into office on Wednesday January 7. The long wait has been excruciatingly painful and denied most peace loving Ghanaians the chance to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

But with every painful situation comes fruitful lessons that help both individuals and governments to learn from. Therefore, the 2008 elections would go down in our history as one of the most hotly contested elections that saw the presidential elections going Three Painful Rounds. As I write, everybody in Ghana seems exhausted, especially the party operatives of both NDC and NPP. Everybody is stressed; we are all down but not yet out.

Being the Ghanaians as we are, I know we would all bounce back now that the dust has settled. This is the time for serious reflections. Even though the NDC supporters are jubilating, I think this should also be a time for somber reflections. We have serious work ahead of us but little time to do it.

As I congratulate Professor Mills who I do not know from anywhere, I want to highlight on a couple of issues that the President-Elect could look into when he is sworn into office. Currently, there is some uneasy unnecessary tension in Ghana . Like it or not the country is currently divided on party lines. And this is the time that Professor Mills has to move fast to diffuse the tension. As the incoming Father of the country, he should use every thing within his power to bring the country together. Perhaps during his “Thank You and Victory Tour”, he should be able to give assurances to supporters of the NPP and inform them that the development and advancement of the country is the collective responsibility of the NDC, NPP and the other parties.

Professor Mills needs to move faster to embrace all Ghanaians. As he promised last that he would be president of all Ghanaians no matter your tribe, background or religion, I expect him to often hit these themes in other to win the hearts of the opposition. I know deeply in my heart that Professor Mills would bring the deeply divided country together. We are one people no matter where you come from or your political leanings.

I also expect Professor Mills to assure the international community especially the investor community that has been worried about the unnecessary tension that engulfed the country during the elections that everybody is free to do their business. This assurance would help in keeping the flow of investments to Ghana . Professor Mills, who has been Vice-President of Ghana before, knows his stuff very well; therefore, I know he would execute this with distinction.

Now we move on to the oil issue. With Ghana set to produce oil in commercial quantities in 2010, I would chip in my little advice. The in-coming government has to set up a high-powered committee of technocrats from different political background that would draw up a comprehensive strategic plan as to how to use the money for the development of the country. The committee which should comprise people with financial, economics and accounting background should come out with a game plan that would distribute the oil money for the benefit of the whole country, with the people in the Western Region being the majority beneficiaries.

Professor Mills who is widely known to be very humble, wise, not petty, knowledgeable and God-Fearing does not carry any stick of vendetta. He gave that assurance that he would not sack people who have different political leanings as happened in 2000. Therefore, I believe he would rather put in place good economic measures that would grow the economy and create more employment opportunities for Ghanaians. But the initial two years of his term would not be easy. The world economy is in shambles. There is going to be massive layoffs in top Western countries including the U.S. this month. Therefore, Ghanaians should tone down on their high expectations because when the world economy tanks, it has a ripple effect on all countries including Ghana .

If President Mills would be successful, we Ghanaians have to help him. The tendency where some Ghanaians go to work and do nothing, yet expect to receive their wages at the end of the month has to stop. People should go to work expecting to pull their weight for the overall development and benefit of the country.

Another area we Ghanaians could also help in our own small ways is to bridge the ethnic gap. The attitude whereby we insult each other on radio stations and websites on strictly tribal lines should stop. We need to turn over a new leaf in 2009. Please forgive me if you find some of my articles biting because the anger that built up in my stomach for all these years due to the economic mismanagement of the country showed up in some of my articles; therefore, I am sorry if my language turned off some my readers.

As Professor Mills continues to receive congratulatory messages from leaders around the world, I would want to extend my own congratulations.

I believe God has been the strength of President Mills otherwise he would not have been able to stand for elections three times and eventually win. As President Mills celebrates his victory, we thank the Almighty Lord for making him smile. He who laughs last, they say laughs best. God richly bless the new President and provide him with enough wisdom to rule this country.

ekwansema@yahoo.com